1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to assessing limitations on authorized parking and more particularly to acquiring and providing information regarding the expiration of authorized parking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Parking locations often include limitations on the time periods within which vehicles are allowed to park therein. For example, certain parking spaces may allow parking for a given period of time (e.g., two-hour parking limit), only during certain times of the day (e.g., parking allowed from 8 am-5 pm) and so forth. Some parking locations include paid parking that requires payment of a parking fee. For example, a paid parking space may require payment of a parking fee in exchange for a right to park a vehicle in the parking space for a given period of time.
In many instances, users may be subject to a penalty if their vehicle is parked without authorization. For example, if a user's vehicle is parked in a parking space outside of authorized time periods, the user may be issued a parking citation (e.g., a parking ticket requiring payment of a penalty fee), the user's vehicle may be towed, or the like. Accordingly, users typically try to avoid instances in which their vehicle is parked in a parking location during unauthorized times. Unfortunately, avoiding such circumstances is not always an easy task. For example, users may misinterpret requirements for authorized parking (e.g., a user may misread a parking sign), users may forget that a time period for authorized parking is about to expire or has already expired, or users may under estimate the time required to return to their vehicle such that authorized parking expires prior to their return to the parking space.